House Hunting

So what's your favorite feature(s) in a house? Big kitchen? Two ovens? Carpet in the living room? Jetted tub? Hard wood floors? Walk-in closets? Backyard? Kitchen open to living room? Obviously we can't have them all, but we can pick and choose the most important!

Just looking for suggestions as we look around...

Wedding & Father's Day

One of my great friends from high school got married this weekend, and I was excited to be able to go and participate. A 5 hour drive is much better than an expensive plane ticket, that's for sure. She's been engaged for a year plus, and it finally happened! Shellie is one of the sweetest girls I know. We went to different elementary schools, but met up in high school and became great friends. We cheered together and had so much fun. I loved being a base when she was a flyer because she weighs about 5 pounds. Interestingly enough, she now works for Deloitte in Dallas so James will see her (and her husband who also works there) around the office, and we'll be able to hang out whenever we want!

Shellie was such a beautiful bride! She was married in St. Anne's church, and there was a very nice mass service that reminded me of my school days at Kelly High School. We went to the reception afterward and got to visit with some school friends who I haven't seen in awhile. James met several of these people at our reception in Beaumont almost 2 years ago, but of course it's hard to remember when you meet so many people. This time we had quality time to catch up and visit. Here are a few wonderful friends.

Emily, Dominique (her baby Landon), and Kathleen

Sunday was Father's Day, so we had to have salmon in puff pastry for dinner and plenty of fruit and veggies. My dad works so hard in all of his responsibilities and is still the best dad I could ask for. Growing up, I didn't know how stressful his job and callings really were because he never showed it. I also think my mom had to do with this a lot because I never heard her complain about his schedule. They're both the best. In my dad's card, I highlighted just some of the great things he is to me. That's always so easy to do because you can write any qualities, and he has them. I'm so grateful for such a wonderful father.

Some other highlights of the trip were: playing HORSE outside- beating James only once, but I'll take it; swimming with Mom and Dad while listening to The Lion King soundtrack, Elvis, or Hawaiian music--the usuals; trying on things at the mall with Mom, laughing, and not buying them; James watching my dad do a total knee replacement surgery and not passing out-yea!; seeing Grandma and Grandpa Hayes and listening to their words of wisdom; watching Forever Strong, a great movie; and of course eating delicious food that my mom makes constantly.

We'll be back for more July 4th weekend!

Weekend Getaway

As if 20 hours wasn't enough... we hopped in the car once again for a 5 (about 6 with Austin traffic) hour drive to San Antonio! We weren't sure we wanted to make the trip, but some of our friends were going and I'm glad we decided to go. We drove straight downtown, changed, and went to the Majestic theater to see WICKED.
I know I'm a little late with my excitement of how good it is, but it was my first time. I was squealing with excitement before it started and I had a constant smile throughout the whole thing. I even shed a few tears at the end. I've just been waiting to see it for so long and have loved the music for a long time. My biggest fear was that the actors' voices wouldn't be as good as the CD. I can't believe I was worried. They were better! Incredible! I've just been waiting and waiting to get the full story of the show because I only knew the parts that were obvious with the CD. I even listened to the whole CD in detail on the way down to Texas to envision the story. Seeing it live was much different with all the twists and turns and personalities on stage. James was even entertained, and he doesn't usually care much for long shows. =) It was just my favorite (next to my mom's show), and I wouldn't be sad if I had to see it again...

So, I think I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture at the theater. I only remembered when we were back at our hotel. All we got was the playbill and not even the title... oops.

The next morning, we woke up and went to Sea World! It was a super hot day, and we were in our swimsuits, so we didn't get any pictures. Sad. We saw sharks, dolphins, an acrobat and skiing show, rode their 2 rollercoasters, and waited in a looong line to go to the waterpark. It was worth the cool off. Then we went on the Great White rollercoaster 2 more times, got very dizzy, and left for home. It was exhausting! I do not know how people bring all of their kids and survive that trip without going crazy or without getting heat stroke... especially on a Saturday when it's 100 degrees. I don't know if I'll be that determined.

Then we drove to Nat and Jeff's house! I hadn't seen their house yet, so it was so fun to walk around and see Nat's creative touch around the house. It's beautiful! We got in kind of late, but the kids were up to greet us, and we loved it. They have so much energy and are the cutest things. I definitely miss being 5 min. away, but I guess 2 hours isn't horrible. I'll take it.
We played some sports and had tea parties with the kids which tired us out more than the kids. We also helped Nat bottle some dilly beans and garlic which was fun AND educational. =) Now, we just have to wait 3 months to taste it. I loved being there with family because I miss them a lot. I'm so excited they're not that far away!

The Bug is gonna be a baller.

Uncle James pitching to Isaac. He just hit it--check out his follow through!
Hannah and her tea party were not featured here, but you can imagine how luxurious our party was.

From Utah to Texas

I guess change is always hard, but this time I didn't think it would be that difficult. James graduated, I was finishing up my 3rd year of teaching, and we were moving to live by a lot of family and friends. But still, it was hard to leave Utah, Angie & Dane, my job, BYU, friends who I might not see very much anymore, Cafe Rio, and all the memories that we made there. I really had a great time there, and I'll miss it.
We were preparing to move for a few months, so James sold our stuff on craigslist like crazy. We sold all of our furniture, even down to our bed, and thankfully Clark and Joey let us borrow their air mattress. We got pretty good money out of our furniture, so we weren't sad to see it go or sad to not have to move it. As for the rest of the stuff, James is the "master packer" so we didn't have any problem fitting it in our 2 cars. He master-packed-space-vac'd several things in garbage bags and was very proud of his method. He worked on it to get it just right so no air would escape from the bags. Here he is happily sucking the air out of the bags without the store bought gadgets.
The last few weeks were crazy with the end of school cleaning, graduation, and packing, but we got everything in as we wanted. I really loved my class this year, and it was sad thinking I wouldn't see them come back and visit next year from middle school. The graduation was really nice. Julie also was moving to Texas, so it was a sad goodbye to all of the staff and friends we worked with for 3 years. I'll really miss working with those wonderful people. Here are some of them:

Before we left, we did the traditional hike to the Y with our friends, and it was quite the hike! I wouldn't do it in Texas weather for sure. I convinced the group to take a break at each bend and take a picture or just enjoy the view. =)

And we finally made it to the top...

And we made it - 20 hours later - to Texas! It was a long drive following James in his car, but we made it thanks to music, family phone calls, and Harry Potter. Now, we'll be with James's parents for awhile until we find a place to live! And in August, Clark and Joey will come to join us with several boxes of books and frames that we left for them to bring in their truck. Thank you!

It's good to be home.